Buffy Likes Persian Silk
by Dream's Penumbra
Summary: Just how did Alistair get his wonderful watchdog, Buffy, in the first place? Oneshot.


**Many thanks to my Beta, Evanescence456.  
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**I don't own the 39 Clues series.**

**Reviews are appreciated. Very.  
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><p>"Alistair Oh speaking."<p>

"Hello, Alistair."

"Grace Cahill. And how are you?"

"Quite well. And you have obviously forgotten about yourself."

Alistair paused, trying to remember what he'd forgotten. His subconsciousness told him that it was something major - but it annoyingly stayed at the brink of his memory.

"It's..."

"It's your birthday, Alistair!" Grace said, as the Ekaterina struggled to remember one of the most important days in his life. "I have something for you. I'm assuming that you can get to my mansion within an hour?"

"How did you find out I was in Boston?" There was a nearly indefinable edge in Alistair's voice.

"The something is a present. And you will enjoy it."

Still, he hesitated. It was definitely not a good idea to wander into foreign territory, especially for Cahills. Even if the hostess was his seventy-six-year-old cousin.

"This is no trap, Alistair."

"All right, then. In an hour."

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><p>"It's good to see you."<p>

Grace Cahill greeted Alistair as they strolled into her mansion, the man's cane tapping against the floor.

"You, too."

"Do you really mean that?"

Alistair frowned.

"Well, maybe not after the time at the family reunion, when you tricked me into putting chili sauce into my bi-bim-bap..."

Grace laughed.

"That was when we were...what? Nineteen and four?"

Alistair smiled despite himself.

"Yes. You were a nineteen-year-old girl and you tricked an innocent little boy into scorching his tongue."

"It was too good a trick to leave unused. And after the ice cream incident, I doubted that the little boy was really that innocent." Grace pulled a heavy door open, surprisingly strong for such an old woman. "Ah, here we are."

"Oh."

And there, in a basket padded with red cloth, lay a _huge_ dog. It was covered in a thick layer of shaggy dark fur, and it was so big that Alistair doubted he could hold it with one arm.

"Oh," Alistair said again. "Oh…Urm...He's quite big. How old is he?"

"One," Grace said, trying not to burst out laughing at the expression on Alistair's face.

"One decade?"

"One year old. A girl."

Alistair looked at the slobbering dog that he suspected was some kind of mix of a pit-bull and a Saint Dane. He took a very careful step back.

"I see."

Grace fought to keep her face clear. "Do you like your little something?"

"Uh?"

"Do you like Buffy?"

"_Buffy?"_

"Yes, Buffy. Do you like her?"

"_Buffy?_"

Grace thanked her agent training, or she would have rolled on the carpet howling in laughter.

"Yes, Buffy. Really, Alistair. If I want echoes I'll go to Grand Canyon. Well, do you like Buffy? She's all yours."

"Ah."

"Well?"

"She's...astounding."

"Well, then. Pick her up. Go on your way, I know that you have a meeting in a few hours."

Suddenly, Buffy looked much more like a black bear than a dog.

"Pick...her...up?"

Alistair was so stunned that he didn't even notice that Grace knew his schedule.

"Yes, pick her up, Alistair. Now, go on, you're not in grade school anymore."

Alistair cautiously stepped next to the huge dog in the huge basket and, with a grunt, hoisted the whole thing into the air. He turned around, as stiff as a mannequin, and with about as much sense.

And then, just as Alistair was about to close the door behind him, Grace spoke.

"She likes Persian silk, Alistair."

"Uh, he likes..." Alistair stared at Grace, who frowned at him. "_She_ likes Persian silk."

"Yes. She likes Persian silk." Grace said, quite seriously. "Make sure to provide her with plenty. She's very sensitive, and Persian silk is good for it."

"I see." With the basket held as far out as was possible, taking into account the considerable weight of the obviously part black bear dog, Alistair slowly shuffled out of the room.

Grace Cahill watched him go, smiling, and wondered how many trips to the clothing store he would need before he managed to tame Buffy.

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><p>"May I have five pairs of extra-strong trousers?"<p>

"Of course. That would be seventy-thousand won. But, why, sir?"

"Oh, it's nothing. My dog ripped my old ones into infinity and beyond."


End file.
